Pleuvoir | Eric Coulter

Labing-tatlo

K a r o l i i n a

The stare that Eric was giving me was unnerving.

It sent shivers down my spine and made my heartbeat thud faster. There was something in his dark eyes that made me want to run and never look back. He gave out an aura of impending doom whenever I was near him.

"What are you waiting for? Fight!" Eric snapped, face showing how displeased he was with me.

Gulping, I moved towards the ring in the middle of the training room. I connected eyes with Pauline and watched silently as she gave me a look of pity. Her look made me purse my lips, was I really that weak that even my enemies pitied me?

"Damn it, do I have to do everything myself?" Eric shouted, and I flinched at the thought of him fighting me instead of Pauline.

Quickly, I positioned myself in a fighting position and squared my shoulders. If I had to fight to become Dauntless, then I will fight. No matter how much I disliked it.

When Pauline comes towards me with her arms raised, I could only hope that my past training would help me win the fight.

∞

The fluorescent lights were hurting my eyes.

Sighing, I lifted up my left arm and placed it over my face so that I would have a shield against the harsh lighting of the infirmary. I was in here for half an hour now, just laying down on the hard mattress and waiting for the announcement that I haven't passed initiation and will take the road to Factionless.

It was safe to say that I knew my fate.

My fight with Pauline was an easy win for her. The second she came at me, I lowered my hands to cover my stomach. That, apparently, was a bad move. She had twisted her arms and faked a punch to my middle, but in the last minute, she opted to hit my jaw instead. The force of her blow was so strong that it sent me flying across the ring, unconscious.

"Hey, you need to get up."

Startled, I moved my arm away from my face and stared at the blonde-haired guy standing beside me. He was the guy whose friend thought I was mute.

"W-What?" I asked, grimacing when pain shot up in my jaw.

"You need to get up or Eric might change his mind." He repeated, brushing out some hair away from his eyes.

"Eric? What about him?" I sat upright from the bed, holding on to my jaw as I looked at the boy in confusion.

"He was the one who decided that you would stay. He got Tris to become Factionless." His sentence made goosebumps appear on my skin.

"Me--stay? And who is Tris?" The questions came out of my mouth in a fast pace. I was feeling pity for the one who had caught my fate and will become Factionless. Whoever Tris is, I was sure she didn't deserve it.

"She's resting a couple of beds down from yours." His reply made me turn my head into the rows of beds after mine, my eyes seeking for the so-called Tris that had saved me.

When I saw a familiar mop of long blonde hair, my chest constricted with pain and shock, "Beatrice? You mean Beatrice Prior?"

His nod only made things worse.

I stood up from the bed swiftly, not caring that my jaw hurt when I clenched it. I needed to find Eric and talk to him. Beatrice didn't deserve to become Factionless. She at least fought Peter for quite some time, unlike me who became unconscious a few seconds after the fight had started.

"Where is Eric?" I asked the still nameless boy, and after he gave me the information I was asking for, I bolted out of the infirmary and started to walk towards the train tracks.

∞

The train was hard to catch.

With my breathing laboured, I slumped against the train's wall, leaning my back against the cool metal. My eyes were scanning the entire area of the train's car, looking for a particular head of slicked back hair.

When I saw Eric, I moved to his direction and balled up my fists. My steps were heavy as I moved towards him, and it seemed like cement was put on my boots. The closer I got to the leader, the faster my heart thumped.

"Eric," I called his name, and the look he gave me makes me swallow.

He raised his eyebrows, and I struggled to stand in place as he waited for my statement. The studs above his right eyebrow glinted against the train's low lighting, giving off a sense of danger around him.

"Tris shouldn't be out," It felt strange calling her that, "I should be. I didn't even survive the first few minutes of my fight."

Eric didn't even blink as I talked, and only watched as I quivered under his view.

"Are you questioning my decision?" His voice becomes deep and husky, like he was getting angry at me.

I bit my lip before replying, "It's true, though. I should be Factionless, not Tris. It's only right for her to--"

Eric disregarded the rest of my statement as he walked past me, and I watched as he scanned a newcomer, Beatrice. I could imagine his eyebrows raise up in surprise at the girl standing before him.

"Who let you out?" The genuine curiosity in his voice made my ears tingle as I listened in to their conversation.

"I did," Was the breathless reply of Beatrice, and I feared that Eric would lash out on her and push her out of the train.

"You did?" The surprise in his voice made me do a double-take at the scene. Eric rarely showed emotions other than coldness and hate.

Beatrice only nodded, and I gulped. If Eric was adamant on her becoming Factionless, I didn't know what I would do. 

As Eric walked back to the spot next to me, I saw Four give Beatrice a small smile, a smile that showed he was proud of her. His smile reminded me of Dahlia, and my heart clenched when I thought of those times when I was... bad to her.

"Tonight, we're playing a Dauntless tradition," Eric announced, bringing his gloved hands behind his back, "Winning team gets plus points, so treat this like your life depends on it."

I sighed heavily when Eric gave me a pointed look. I knew what he was implying. My fate depended on this tradition, my life whether or not I'll be Factionless or Dauntless depended if I was on the winning team.

I could only hope for the best.